At Issue: What’s the best advice you’ve been given?

The first thing you do when you grab a football and suit up is, likely, rely on advice from previous, yet similar, instances. The advice could come from a practice session or on a bus ride home after a difficult loss.

The advice could be how to play against a certain defense or offense, but more important, the advice could be life lessons which become deep-seated ethos upon which a player or coach lives their life.

Two coaches and a player were asked what’s the best advice you’ve ever given, or received?

-Jerome Bettis Jr. is a wide receiver for Woodward Academy and son of Jerome “The Bus” Bettis, the legendary Pittsburgh Steelers fullback. Bettis committed to Notre Dame, his father’s alma mater, as a three-star wide receiver. Bettis feels that it’s important to keep the main thing your main thing.

-Stanley Pritchett played at the University of South Carolina and was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in 1996 and played in the NFL for nine seasons. He coaches Douglass High in Atlanta and feels that, whether “new school” or “old school,” you must have a relationship with the players you coach.

-Cedar Grove coach Roderick Moore is entering his first season leading the defending-champion Saints after John Adams departed for the Georgia State staff. He feels the best advice comes from listening.

Here are their thoughts:

Jerome Bettis Jr., Woodward Academy receiver

“One of the biggest things about football – or whatever you pursue in life – is keeping the main thing the main thing. You have to stay focused on what you are doing. My dad kind of preaches to me to make sure I stay focused and that I am not worried about outside distractions. That’s really helped me now. And it’s going to help my future, in college, because, obviously there are distractions everywhere. Going into more football specifically, the biggest thing I’ve been taught is work ethic, and that translates into life. You can’t really go far if you aren’t working for it.”

Stanley Pritchett, Douglass coach

“Whatever era you come from, ‘old school’ or ‘new school’, you have to have a relationship with the players and when they feel comfortable they’ll talk to you about whatever. Whether it’s football, life or whatever. You have to have that kind of relationship with your players. That’s the best advice I’ve ever gotten. I just try to make sure they keep the main thing the main thing. Not to get too far ahead and to stay focused.”

Roderick Moore, Cedar Grove coach

“The best piece of advice is to listen. Sometimes a lot of coaches, and I’ve been there before at the start of my career, we just wouldn’t coach. And we’d only coach sometimes, but when we started listening to the players, they’ll give you some insight on what’s going on the field, and off it. I think that’s the best advice I have gotten is to spend time listening to your players.”